


Malum Somnium

by mindfluff



Category: Cut & Run - Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux
Genre: Comfort, M/M, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-17
Updated: 2018-07-17
Packaged: 2019-06-12 01:49:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,187
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15329028
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mindfluff/pseuds/mindfluff
Summary: Ty is plagued by nightmares even years after being out of the service.Takes place anytime after Crash & Burn.





	Malum Somnium

**Author's Note:**

> I was watching a thunderstorm roll in and was reminded of how Ty likes to watch storms, so I started writing this. It ended up as a piece of domestic fluff having nothing to do with watching storms

    Zane woke up slowly, taking his time in a way that had become second nature after leaving behind the FBI and relegated to support for the CIA.  He’d discovered that he was not really a morning person and much preferred waking up slowly on his own time rather than jumping out of bed at the alarm clock.

    Which, he realized after squinting at the time, hadn’t actually gone off.  Thank the gods, he could go back to sleep for another couple of hours. He reached out to cuddle up to Ty, knowing the warmth of his husband’s body would help lull him back to sleep, only to find the bed empty and the sheets cold.

    He lay there for a few seconds processing the empty spot on the bed before getting up and padding barefoot to the balcony.  At three o’clock in the morning, that was the most likely place for Ty to be. 

    He stepped out into the muggy summer air to see Ty’s silhouette leaning forward on the balcony railing, the man himself staring off at the storm clouds rolling in from the harbor.  Ty was wearing the same thing Zane was, a t-shirt and boxers, and the white of the shirt stood out like a beacon against the backdrop of the neighboring homes.

    Zane closed the door behind him quietly and started talking as he walked up behind Ty.

        _There's a dark lantern of the spirit,_  
_Which none see by but those who bear it,_  
_That makes them in the dark see visions_  
_And hag themselves with apparitions,_  
_Find racks for their own minds, and vaunt_  
_Of their own misery and want._

    By the time he’d gotten to the last line of the poem, he had his arms wrapped around Ty and had pulled the other man to lean back on him. 

    “Mmmm,” Ty hummed, tipping his head back to rest on Zane’s shoulder, nestling himself in the embrace.  “Who’s that one by?”

    “Samuel Butler,” Zane replied quietly.  “Nightmares again?”

    “Yeah,” Ty affirmed.

    Zane rubbed his hands down Ty’s arms to help soothe him and only then did he realize that Ty was clutching his cell phone.

    “You called Nick?” he asked.

    “Yeah,” Ty answered.  “I…it was one of _those_ dreams and I just needed to hear his voice.”

    “He ok?” Zane asked.

    “Yeah,” Ty snorted. “A little cranky at gettin’ woke but yeah.”  Ty gave weak chuckle.  “He was in a better mood when I pointed out that he could wake Kelly up too.”

    Zane snorted.  “Want to talk about it?”

    Ty didn’t answer right away, but Zane felt his muscles relax a little as Ty leaned more of his weight on him.  Zane nuzzled into Ty’s hair and hummed encouragement.

    “I was just a dream, and everything was all mixed up,” Ty finally said.  “Like I was in Afghanistan, and Nick was there with that fucking table.”  Ty took a deep breath. “But then I looked up and we were on that island in the caves, and not in our cell.  And I was ecstatic, because there weren’t no door so I knew we’d be able to find our way out eventually.  We was creeping through the tunnels and could feel fresh air leadin’ us out, but somewhere Nick twisted his bad knee  and was havin’ a hard time walkin’.  I helped him and we kept going til we finally found and exit.  ‘Cept it was a cave opening low down in that cliff hangin’ out over the water and we had to decide to go back or try to jump in and swim.  The tide was comin’ in and starting to fill the cave, and Nick kept telling me to get out ‘fore we was trapped, but I couldn’t go ‘cause I knew he’d never make it.” 

    Ty fell silent and Zane held him a little tighter. He could tell this had been a particularly bad nightmare because Ty’s grammar was slipping and his accent was coming out stronger than normal.  After a few seconds Ty gave a little shudder and continued. 

    “We ended up going back into the caves and I could hear the pounding of the surf as the water started coming in so I knew we couldn’t go back.  The flashlight died, and everything was dark and Nick and I got separated. It was just a little bit at first; we kept reaching for each other, and we’d brush each other a little bit, but not be able to grab on.  Then his voice started getting farther away and we was yelling, but I couldn’t find him.  Then the water came in and hit me and I woke up.”

    Zane hummed and hugged Ty again.  “It makes sense then that you needed to talk to him.”

    “Yeah,” Ty replied.  “I was reading about those kids in Thailand, I think that’s why it was so different than normal.”

     “Mmmm,” Zane hummed. “No more news before bed for you.”

    “But it was good news Zane,” Ty protested.  “They got the kids out.”

    Zane chuckled. “Yeah, but how well would you have done almost a mile underground in the dark for nine days before even being found.”

    Ty gave a full body shudder.  “They’d have to haul me out in a straitjacket.”

    “Hence the nightmare,” Zane said soothingly. “You want to try going back to sleep?”

    Ty shook his head.  “No point, I ain’t getting back to sleep and it’s almost dawn anyway.”

    Zane snorted.  “It’s a good two hours til dawn and at least four until we need to get up.”

    Ty hummed in response and tipped his head up for a kiss.  Zane obliged him and held him close for a few minutes before speaking again.

    “What do you need from me, baby?” he asked.  Zane knew that sometimes Ty needed a good hard fucking to override the fear of that damn table, but other times he needed a tender touch to replace the feel of the beatings.  He had no idea what Ty would want after dreaming of losing Nick in a cave.

    “Can we just cuddle like this for a while?” Ty asked softly, and Zane knew if there was enough light, he’d be able to see a blush spreading across his husband’s face.  “I probably won’t sleep though,” he warned.

    “How about I get the blanket and we sit out here for a while.  If we fall asleep, we fall asleep, and if we don’t at least we’re not standing while the sun rises.”

    Ty huffed.  “The only place we can sit together out here is on the floor, and my ass’ll be numb by the time the sun comes up.”

    He spun around in Zane’s arms and then gently broke out of the embrace, taking one of Zane’s hands in his own.

    “Come on Lonestar, we’ll snuggle up in a nice soft bed and if we don’t fall asleep I’ll do unseemly things to you,” he teased.

    Zane chuckled softly and led Ty into the house.  “Deal, as long as I get to be the big spoon.”

    “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”


End file.
